business - "credit"

Hedge fund assets jumped 27% to $2.6 trillion in 2007, but growth slowed during the second half of the year as the credit crunch began to dent confidence in the industry, according to HedgeFund Intelligence.

Job losses in the City of London as a result of the international fallout from the credit crunch are expected to be around 40,000, according to analysts. The estimate doubles a calculation in Decemb...

RESTON, Va.----SLM Corporation , commonly known as Sallie Mae, today reported that for the first-quarter ended March 31, 2008, it delivered a record amount of student loans despite difficult economic conditions and tightened credit markets that dramatically increased the cost of funds.

AP - wall street rallied Wednesday after better-than-expected quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase and two other Dow Jones industrials raised investors' hopes that companies and the economy are indeed recovering from the protracted global credit crisis. The Dow rose more than 250 points as investors shrugged off any concerns about oil passing $115 a barrel for the first time.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- SLM Corp. reported a first-quarter $104 million net loss late Wednesday as the giant student loan company known as Sallie Mae struggled in the face of the global credit crunch. The net loss was 28 cents a share, versus net income of $116 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier. Core earnings, which exclude the effect of derivatives accounting which captures short-term mark-to-market fluctuations, came in at $188 million, or 34 cents a share, SLM said. Excluding non-recurring items of $21 million of restructuring expenses and an $82 million acceleration of premium amortization expense, core earnings were $254 million, or 48 cents a share. The lender was expected to make 40 cents a share, according to the average estimate of nine analysts polled by Thomson Financial. market pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

AP - The country's economic health deteriorated further in early spring as shoppers buckled under the strains of the housing and credit debacles and a weaker employment climate.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sallie Mae , the largest U.S. student loan company, posted a first-quarter net loss on Wednesday and said it cannot continue lending at a profit amid the credit crunch.

The bank, which is absorbing Bear Stearns, was hurt badly by market turmoil and heavy credit losses and set aside $5.1 billion to strengthen its reserves.

Wall street rallied after better-than-expected quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase and two other Dow Jones industrials raised investors' hopes that companies and the economy are indeed recovering from the protracted global credit crisis.

The credit crunch has thrust compensation schemes into the limelight. He weanswer all your questions on what they entail